The present invention relates to an industrial vehicle which has an operator's seat and an armrest located on a hood.
A forklift truck has been widely used as an industrial vehicle for performing loading/unloading work in factories. Such forklift truck (mainly a counterbalanced forklift truck) is equipped with an operator's seat on which a vehicle operator is seated. Recently, some forklift trucks have an operator's seat which is equipped with an armrest for the purpose of reducing operator fatigue (cf. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-99800). In the forklift truck which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-99800, the armrest is provided at the operator's seat and made pivotable relative to the operator's seat for an operator to easily get on and off the forklift truck. In getting on or off the truck, the operator pivots the armrest toward the backrest of the seat.
Meanwhile, the operator's seat is generally provided on an engine hood in the case of an engine vehicle or on a battery hood in the case of a battery vehicle. These hoods are operable to open and close for daily checking. Since the operator's seat is provided on the hood, the operator's seat is pivoted as the hood is opened and closed. The width of the armrest may be made larger for enhancing the convenience of the armrest. In this case, however, there is fear that the armrest collides against a rear pillar supporting an overhead guard when the hood is opened. The widened armrest enhances the freedom of posture of the operator when he or she places his or her arm on such armrest. When operating means for a vehicle such as a joystick is disposed on the armrest as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-99800, a plurality of operating menas juxtaposed on the widened armrest enhances operating ease and convenience.
The present invention, which has been made in view of the above-described problems, is directed to an industrial vehicle which prevents the collision of the armrest with a pillar when the hood is opened.